12 incredibly delicious winter soups from around the world

It’s hard to survive the cold and harsh winter months without soup — it satiates, warms you up and delights you. Traditional and favorite soups from around the world will help you diversify your menu and give you the best options for lunch on a cold day.

Bright Side presents the best recipes for delicious winter soups from around the world.

The famous Bulgarian goulash (bogracsgulyas)

This soup is prepared on an open fire in a very popular competition in Hungary for the best goulash — not only because the real Magyar shepherds cooked it that way, but also because of the bowls designed especially for goulash. Actually, the real name of the soup is bogracsgulyas, or ’’gulyas pot’’.

Ingredients

• 2 lbs (1 kg) beef with no bones
• 4-5 strips of bacon or pork fat (you can use vegetable oil as well)
• 10 oz (300 g) onion
• 3 tablespoons of paprika
• salt, caraway seeds, garlic
• 2 pounds (1 kg) potatoes
• 5 oz (140 g) peppers (sweet green or red)
• 1 tomato
• 8-12 cups of water or broth
• for 6 servings of dumplings: 3 oz (80 g) flour, 1 egg, salt

Instructions

• Cut the meat (shoulder, shank) into cubes 1/2-1 in. (1.5-2 cm) wide on each side. Fry chopped onions in the melted fat (or oil) until golden brown. Reduce the heat, then put paprika into the fat, stirring quickly. Add the meat and pounded garlic mixed with caraway seeds, and pour in a little water and stir occasionally, continuing to simmer it on low heat. Add water if needed.
• While the meat is stewing, peel and cut the potatoes to 1/2 in. (1 cm) wide cubes. Chop the green peppers and tomatoes and prepare dumplings. When the meat is almost ready, let the water evaporate so that only fat is left in the pan. Add the potatoes to the meat, stir well and stew until the potatoes are glassy, then pour in the broth or water and add green pepper and tomatoes.
• When the potatoes are almost cooked, put dumplings in the soup just before serving. Adjust the soup by adding water or broth. Add more salt if needed.
• Instructions for making dumplings: The name csipetke derives from the Hungarian word ’’Csipkedni,’’ which means ’’to pinch.’’ Combine flour, eggs and salt (without water) and knead dough. Roll it on a floured board into a sheet with a thickness of about 1 mm and pinch small, fingernail-sized bits out of the dough with floured hands. Then add them to the boiling soup. In 3-4 minutes they will be cooked and will float to the surface.

German thick soup (Pichelsteiner)

Thick and nourishing, Pichelsteiner is included in the 100 most famous recipes of the world. For over 130 years, there used to be celebrations in the German city of Regen, with night boating, parades, fairs and fireworks in the honor of Pichelsteiner.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lb (600 g) of three types of meat (pork, beef, chicken or veal)
• 2 onions
• 1.7 lb (750 g) potatoes
• 1 celery root (about 7 oz — 200 g)
• 3 carrots
• 1 leek stalk
• salt, sweet paprika
• a bunch of parsley
• broth or water

Instructions:

• Cut the meat into chunks. Peel and finely chop the onion. Peel and clean all the other vegetables. Cut potatoes and celery into cubes and carrots into thick slices. Cut leeks into thin rings.
• Put the meat, potatoes, and the other vegetables in the pan. Pour in the hot broth or water so that it covers only the top layer. Season it with salt and paprika. Simmer it with the lid on for about 1.5 hours. Chop the parsley and add it to the soup one minute before it’s ready.

English stew with beans

Winter in the United Kingdom is usually cold, that’s why stew was a favorite and often the only meal for poor people during the cold months since Roman times. Nobles also enjoyed this thick, nourishing soup.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb (500 g) beef
• 5-7 oz (150-200 g) minced meat (pork and beef)
• 2 carrots
• 1 onion
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 cup of red beans
• 1/2 cup of frozen (or canned) green peas
• 1 cup of green beans, fresh or frozen
• 2-3 potatoes
• 4 tablespoons of soy sauce
• tomato paste, salt, black pepper, sugar, sweet paprika, bay leaf

Instructions:

• Soak the red beans overnight, then rinse them. Boil them in a separate pan and pour out the water. Boil the meat at the same time. Just after the broth boils, remove the foam and add the bay leaf and boil until it’s ready.
• Take the meat out of the broth and add potatoes cut into small cubes, and boil them until tender. Then put in the beans, carrot sticks, green beans and peas. Pour soy sauce in broth.
• Fry finely chopped onions in tomato paste (about 1-1.5 tablespoon) and add it to the broth. Add more tomato paste (approximately two tablespoons) for your taste and finely chopped garlic. Put in the minced meat, sprinkled with salt and black pepper, in a separate pan and fry until cooked. Add it to the stew. Cut the boiled meat into pieces and put the pieces in the soup as well.
• Add a little sugar (to avoid sourness), sweet paprika and simmer a little more.

Palestinian red lentil and pumpkin soup

It’s a fragrant pureed soup rich in vitamins and protein that is usually served with pita bread.

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 3 medium carrots
• 2 stalks of celery
• 1 medium onion
• 1 teaspoon of ground caraway seeds
• ½ teaspoon of dried chili peppers
• 1 lb (400 g) pumpkin
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 6 cups of chicken broth or water
• 1 cup of red lentils
• paprika and parsley as a garnish

Instructions:

• Heat oil properly in a pan with a thick bottom or in a frying pan, then add finely chopped garlic, carrots, celery and onion. Fry them, stirring for 12-14 minutes. Add the caraway seeds, chili, pumpkin chopped into pieces, salt and pepper and simmer until the pumpkin is tender.
• Add the broth and lentils and bring to a boil. If you stewed vegetables in a frying pan, put the vegetables with lentils in the pan. Pour the broth in and continue to cook.
• Reduce the heat and boil with the lid on for 20 minutes until the lentils are cooked. Let the soup cool slightly and make a puree with the blender. When serving, garnish it with parsley and paprika and serve with pita bread and slices of lemon (if desired).

Hot Mexican Tortilla

This hot, spicy and fairly light soup is very popular in Latin America.

Ingredients:

• 1 large chili
• 1 lb (400 g) tomatoes cut in cubes
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 peeled cloves of garlic
• 1 medium onion
• 6 cups of chicken broth
• dried cilantro
• 1.3-1.5 lb (600-700g) of boiled chicken breast, cut into pieces
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 5 oz (150 g) grated hard cheese
• 1-2 avocado cut in cubes
• sour cream, lime slices for serving
• corn chips (about 4 cups)

Instructions:

• Fry the chili pepper in a frying pan with a thick bottom over high heat, turning it over from time to time. Remove the seeds and put it in a blender with tomatoes. Fry garlic and onion in oil until golden brown. Put them in the blender with tomatoes and chili pepper and grind until smooth.
• Pour the tomato mixture into the pan and cook on medium heat to a boil for 8-10 minutes. Add the broth and cilantro and bring to a boil again. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the chicken, salt and pepper, and simmer again.
• Put chips on the plate (leave some for serving) and pour the soup on them. Garnish it with cheese, avocado slices, chips and sour cream. Serve it with slices of lime.

Classic Borsch

Hot borsch with garlic is the best way to warm up and survive the severe Russian winter.

Ingredients:

• 12 cups of water
• 1 1/2 — 2 lbs (700-800g) beef on the bone
• 10 oz (300 g) fresh cabbage
• 2-3 medium potatoes
• 2 small or 1 medium beet
• 1 carrot
• 1 onion
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste and 1 small tomato
• vegetable oil for frying
• 2 cloves of garlic
• salt, ground black pepper, bay leaf, greens (dill, parsley, basil)
• sour cream for serving

Instructions:

• Make broth first. Rinse the beef under running water, and put it in the pan and cover with cold water. Boil it and reduce the heat to low.
• While the broth is preparing, peel and chop the vegetables: potatoes, carrots, beets, onions. When the meat is cooked, remove it from the broth and cool it down a little. Then separate the meat from the bone and cut it into small pieces. Put the boiled meat in the broth again. Remember to remove the foam from the surface of the broth.
• When the broth boils, add shredded fresh cabbage to the pan. Then add potatoes. Salt it.
• Fry the beets in a frying pan. Then add onions and carrot, tomato paste and grated tomatoes. Pour in a glass of broth just after the tomatoes get a little thick. Simmer for about 10 minutes and put it in the borsch.
• Add the spices to the soup 5 minutes before it’s ready, and add chopped garlic and fresh greens just before turning off the stove.
• Let the borsch brew for half an hour. Serve it with a spoonful of sour cream on top of the soup.

Spicy Georgian kharcho

Ingredients:

• 1 lb (400 g) beef
• 3 onions
• 4 tablespoons of rice
• 1 lb (500 g) tomatoes
• dill, parsley, cilantro to your taste
• 1 clove of garlic

Instructions:

• Pour 8-10 cups of cold water in a pan. Add the meat cut into cubes and put it on the stove. When the water boils, remove the foam and reduce the heat. Let it boil for an hour and a half. Add celery or parsley root half an hour before the soup is ready and salt to taste.
• Meanwhile, finely chop onion and lightly fry it in oil over low heat. As soon as the onions are golden brown, add the meat from the broth to it (turn off the heat) and fry for about 5 minutes.
• Then add a couple of tablespoons of broth and stew for 15 minutes with the lid on.
• While the meat and onion stew, rinse the tomatoes. Make cross-shaped incisions in them and put them in the boiled water for a few minutes. Then peel the tomatoes and cut them into cubes.
• Put the tomato cubes in the pan with the meat and onions and stew for 10 minutes. Then put the contents of the pan in the broth, which should boil again.
• Add rice to the boiling broth. Give soup 5 minutes to boil. Reduce the heat to medium and add spices. Then add the pounded garlic and finely chopped greens (dill, parsley, cilantro) and immediately turn off the heat. Let it brew for an hour before serving.

American Chowder

Chowder is a thick soup and a well-known cuisine in America. It is cooked in different ways in different parts of the country: with bacon, fish, shrimp, broccoli or corn. Cream and cheese are the must-have ingredients of this soup!

Ingredients:

• 7-10 oz (200-300 g) bacon
• 1 lb (400 g) frozen or canned corn
• 3-4 potatoes
• 4 cups of chicken broth
• 2 cups of cream (10%)
• 2 tablespoons of flour
• 1 stalk of celery
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 onion
• 7 oz (200 g) hard cheese
• salt, ground black pepper

Instructions:

• Cut bacon into small cubes and lightly fry in a spoonful of vegetable oil in the pan the soup will be made in. Replace the bacon cubes with onion and simmer until it is golden brown.
• Cut potatoes and put them in the pan. Pour in chicken broth. Boil 15-20 minutes until potatoes are tender.
• Meanwhile, finely chop the bell pepper and celery and fry them separately in the frying pan. Add frozen corn (if canned, it can be put in broth).
• When the potatoes turn into a puree, add the cream to the broth stirred with flour. Stir well again to avoid lumps, then add fried bacon, vegetables and corn (if canned) in the soup. Boil the soup again and add grated cheese, letting it stew for 10 minutes.
• Garnish the soup with grated cheese and greens before serving.

Hungarian soup with cauliflower, paprika and dumplings

Vegetarians, this one is for you!

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup of flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 6 teaspoons of chilled butter
• 1 egg
• 1.5 hot pepper (those who do not like hot can replace it with bell pepper)
• 1 large onion
• 6-8 cups of vegetable broth or water
• 1 small cauliflower
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• A small bunch of parsley

Instructions:

• Make dumplings: stir the flour and salt, add 4 tablespoons of butter and grind the flour and butter until they are rolled into lumps the size of a pea. Add the egg, knead dough and put it in the fridge.
• Put the rest of the oil in a pan and fry chopped peppers and onions until tender. Pour in broth or water and add cauliflower and carrots. Season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium, stirring for about 15 minutes until vegetables are tender.
• Pinch the pieces of dough with a teaspoon and throw them into the boiling soup for 3 minutes. Garnish it with parsley.

German Scotch broth with smoked meat

A German classic soup that is easy to cook!

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons of butter or oil
• 1 medium onion
• 1 cup of pearl barley
• 6 cups of chicken broth, vegetable broth or water
• 1-2 potatoes
• 1 carrot
• quartered celery root
• ½ cup of chopped leeks
• 2 German sausages
• 1 slice of bacon
• dried nutmeg
• 1 tespoon of dried marjoram
• parsley
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

• Heat the oil in the bottom of the pan and fry chopped onions for 5 minutes. Put in barley and fry it lightly for 5 minutes.
• Add broth, chopped potatoes, carrots, celery and leeks, marjoram and German sausages and cook over medium heat until vegetables are cooked and the sausages are tender. If you use ready-made smoked sausages, put them in the broth 10 minutes before the soup is ready.
• Remove the sausages from the soup, cut them into pieces and remove the bacon. Before turning off the stove, put nutmeg, salt and pepper in it and let it brew. Garnish it with parsley and slices of sausage.

Delicious Italian tomato soup with tortellini and spinach

You can make this soup very easily, especially if you find tortellini in the store, i.e., stuffed pasta like our dumplings.

Ingredients:

• 1 onion
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 20-25 oz (600-700 g) canned or fresh tomatoes
• 4 cups of chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon of dried basil
• 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon of paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
• 7-10 oz (200-300 g) tortellini with cheese and other filling
• 7-10 oz (200-300 g) fresh or frozen spinach
• a little bit of grated hard cheese and fresh herbs

Instructions:

• If you use fresh tomatoes, pour boiling water over them and remove the peel. Cut them into pieces and stew them in a frying pan for a few minutes with the lid on.
• Heat the oil and fry chopped onions for 5 minutes in the frying pan. Add garlic, paprika, salt and pepper, and fry for 1 minute until there is a pleasant fragrance.
• Put in the tomatoes (chopped, canned or stewed), pour in the broth and add the basil, oregano and bay leaf. Bring to a boil.
• Reduce the heat, and boil tortellini as long as it is indicated on the package (usually 7-9 minutes). Put in the spinach and simmer it on the fire for a few minutes. Serve immediately garnished with fresh herbs and cheese.

American soup with wild rice, mushrooms and chicken

Wild rice has a delicate taste and flavor. It is of unusual form, long and black, and you can buy it in any large grocery store. If you have not tried it yet, we advise you to do so!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of wild rice
• 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
• 1 onion
• 2 medium carrots
• 2 stalks of celery
• 1 teaspoon of thyme
• 3.5 oz (100 g) flour
• 8 cups of chicken broth
• 10 oz (300 g) boiled chicken
• 7 oz (200 g) mushrooms
• 1 cup of cream (10%)
• parsley

Instructions:

• Boil rice in 4 cups of water for about 45 minutes. Pour the water out and set it aside.
• Heat the oil in a pan and fry the chopped onion, celery and carrots lightly. Then put in thyme and flour and stew, stirring for 2-3 minutes. Pour in the broth and bring it to a boil.
• Add the chicken, mushrooms, salt and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes, then add the rice and pour the cream in. Let the soup boil again and simmer it for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, then put parsley on top and let it brew for a bit.